Dragon

A monster of enormous size, common to almost all countries. Descriptions of its appearance vary, but it is of reptilian nature, often red or green in color, sometimes with several heads that spew fire and vapors, and a large tail, not unlike some dinosaurs.

It is of enormous strength, but the ancients believed that it could be charmed by music, and the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece of Greek legend was soothed by the voice of Medea. In India at the time of Alexander the Great, a dragon was worshiped as a god, while in occult history it is the manifestation of hell.

The dragon, however, is best known in legendary history as the monster whose duty it is to provide the hero with opportunities of valor. There is a legend of St. George and the Dragon and also the dragon that was slain by Sir Lancelot, one of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table.

In the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) the word tannin, commonly rendered "dragon" in older English translations, generally refers to a variety of animals such as crocodiles, jackals, and serpents, but occasionally to the dragon (Ezek. 29:3; 32:3). In Chapter 12 of the biblical book of Revelation, the dragon, a representation of the Evil One, is overcome by the archangel Michael.

The dragon became a symbol of great strength in the European Middle Ages. In the fifteenth century, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire founded the Order of the Dragon to unite Christian rulers against the incursions of the Turkish Muslims into the Balkans. Among those invested with the order was Prince Vlad of Wallachia (Romania). He assumed the name Vlad Dracul, dracul being the Romanian word for dragon. His son took the diminutive form of the name as Prince Vlad Dracula.

During the time of Henry VII (1457-1509), a coin was given to those who were cured of possession with one side featuring an angel standing with both feet on a dragon.

The idea of the dragon is perhaps evolved from the concept of the earth as a living being, a notion that gained currency from earthquakes and related phenomena.